Messages from Nepal

Holi – one big water fight.

One of the most unusual festivals that we have experienced so far in Nepal is the festival of Holi, where everything shuts for a day so the entire population can throw water balloons!

Holi is celebrated in Nepal and India, because of an old Hindu story.  Prahlada, was the son of one of the great demons. The story goes that Prahlada opposed his father’s arrogance and desire that everyone worship him and not the other gods. Because of this his father attempted to kill his son on several occasions. He was given poison which turned to nectar and was trampled by elephants but survived. Finally his father ordered him onto a pyre to sit on the lap of the demoness Holika. Although Holika had been given a boon that she could not be killed by fire, the pyre consumed her whilst Prahlada survived. The saving of Prahlada and burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi.

Nowadays this national holiday is a fun day where those who venture into the street risk being either soaked or covered in brightly coloured powder. Some don’t venture out over the door of their house, whilst the kids and teenagers love it. Over the years it has become quite notorious as water balloons not only contain water and the traditional coloured power, but also oil and small stones.

The ambush is set as the kids wait, not so patiently, for someone to come by. Realizing that there is someone closer (the poor photographer), they turn their attention on me.

Having scampered upstairs, it didn’t stop them trying.

As it is national holiday, all the schools are closed and the kids of KISC gather in a parents back garden for their own private water fight.

Walking around the neighbourhood, most of the kids had decorated their faces.

But I think these boys won the face painting competition.

At Pulchowk, earlier in the day there had been a large water fight.

At the pokhari at Pulchowk, the water pistols were replaced with buckets.

On a personal note, we would like to thank the many people who were so helpful to us during our short time at home. As most of you know it was complicated as Valerie and the kids returned to Nepal as planned after the 2 week break, but I had an extended time at home due to developing a clot in my calf. Thankfully we are all back in Kathmandu and the ankle continues to heal as I hobble around with a stick.

A Cracking Time in Chitwan

Last week we attended the United Mission to Nepal expatriate retreat to Chitwan National Park. It was a time to get to know everyone better, a spiritual retreat and fun activities in the park. The retreat was led by Malcolm and Cati, UMN pastoral councillors. Malcolm led us on a series about our biblical approach to time, which included a sermon on sleep – or more importantly about getting proper rest.

Chitwan National Park, located in the southern sub-tropical Terai region of Nepal is a protected wildlife area (over 360 sq mi) established in 1973 and granted the status of World Heritage Site in 1984. Chitwan National Park is one of the key visitor attractions in Nepal.  We stayed at Chitwan Paradise Lodge and they organised a number of jungle activities for us.

There was the two hour elephant ride through the forest, which was the safest way to go looking for wild animals. Reportedly there were tigers, rhinos, snakes ….

…. however all we saw were different types of birds and deers ….

….and lizards!

After the wild adventure of the jungle elephant ride was a visit to the elephant breeding centre. This centre was established because the Asian elephant population is endangered. Visiting the centre allowed us to get more information about elephants in Nepal. Above Conor is sitting beside an elephant skull.

The centre allowed us to see cow elephants with their calves. Above is a one month old calf. The cow elephants and calves are tied up under the elephant shelters. There is a fence between the visitors’ centre and the these shelters, but beyond that it is open to the jungle. This is to allow the wild bull elephants access to the females.

You could also see affection between siblings. Here you see a 5 year old brother with this new addition to the family.

One of the many uses of an elephant’s trunk is to blow dust and dirt over their bodies. You can see this young elephant above applying his sun block and insect repellent.

Our last jungle activity was a relaxing canoe ride. The canoes were cut out from felled tree trunks and we were advised to keep fairly still and definitely no standing up as they were not very stable.

It certainly wasn’t the Oxford – Cambridge boat race as we meandered slowly down the river, looking at a rich variety of birds, including many kingfishers and storks. As it was a hot day, there were lots of crocodiles sunning themselves on the river bank and enjoying a cool bath in the river.

At one stage Valerie and Erin’s boat must have run over a crocodile, who was far from pleased. The first they knew about it was when a large set of jaws lunged at the front end of the boat. Luckily it was beside the boatman, who reacted quickly by hitting the crocodile on its nose with his boat pole. He was definitely shaken by this uncommon event!

The river passed through a Nepali village and provided an area where both locals and we could go for a cooling swim. At one stage a snake had to be chased away by throwing stones at it.

The swimming then developed into a time of jumping off the bank into the river. Above you can see Conor in midair.

Everyone was having a cracking time and I was encouraged to have a go. Unfortunately on my first and last go, I hit the river bed resulting in a broken ankle.

If you are going to injure yourself, then UMN Conference is probably the best time to do it as there is no shortage of Doctors and medical advice.  There was a quick trip to the hospital in the local bazaar, were an X-Ray confirmed there was a break and a quick plaster was applied.

Both the Nepalis at the Paradise lodge and the doctors were a great help and from breaking an ankle to getting the plaster on took just over an hour – great service indeed!

At the conference there was another UMNer, Les, who had broken his wrist the week before. This photo was sent to me with the caption, “UMN makes no discrimination between those of high caste and those of low caste”.

Love is in the Air

We know that in the last couple of weeks there have been a couple of weddings in 1st Bangor! Congratulations to Gordy and Julia and Craig and Suzi – we look forward to seeing some photos. Our friend Phil, from England has been working at UMN for a year and a half and last week married a lovely Christian Nepali lady called Pratiksha. We were very excited, along with the 300 other guests, to be invited and share in this special Christian ceremony and to have the chance to dress up!

Above is us in our finery and below a colleague from UMN, wearing a traditional older man’s outfit. There were many beautiful saris on show in a great variety of eye catching colours.

The service was due to start at 3 o’clock but this in reality was a notional time. On arrival we found Phil sorting through some last minute details.

The church gradually filled – there was a great buzz as weddings are viewed as very social events and a good opportunity to meet and chat.

The service began with some background music and the bridal party’s entrance to the church, starting with the ring-bearers…

…then the bridemaids. Interestingly there had been lots of problems in obtaining their particular shade of sari. In the end they were obtained on ebay in the UK and Phil’s mum and dad brought them to Nepal, were the final fitting and adjustments were made – all a couple of days before the wedding.

Then finally Pratiksha with her father. She is wearing the traditional white of a Christian bride. A Hindu bride would always wear an elaborate sari in red, which is the colour of life. In Hindu society white is the colour of death and widows or those in mourning will wear it.

It was a brilliant service and the couple left the church to a round of applause.

As with all weddings there is the line up immediately after the service, where the guests greet the newly married couple. Food is also served at this time, which consisted of big pots of rice, curried vegetables, meat with salad and an achar (hot spicy dish). It was a very relaxed event with some people going to eat before returning to greet the couple, while others first greeted Phil and Pratiksha.

The happy couple.